Is it permissible for a father to force his daughter to work in a mixed environment?

Question

Can a father force his daughter to work in a mixed environment?.

Answer

Praise be to Allaah.

Working in mixed environments is not free of the risk of some
haraam things happening, such as looking, being alone with a person of the
opposite sex, or feeling attracted. Hence the scholars have issued fatwas
stating that it is haraam, based on what usually happens. It says in
Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (12/156):

Mixing of men and women
in schools and elsewhere is a great evil and has serious implications for
people’s religious and worldly interests. It is not permissible for a woman
to study or work in a place where men and women mix, and it is not
permissible for her guardian to allow her to do that.

Based on that, the father has no right to force his daughter
to work in a mixed workplace. If he forces her to do that then she does not
have to obey him, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “There is no obedience in sinful matters, rather obedience
is only (required) in that which is good and proper.” Narrated by
al-Bukhaari, 7257; Muslim, 1840.

This daughter must explain to her father the dangers of
working in a mixed environment, and that it is haraam. She should remind him
of his duty to protect his family and save them from the Fire, and she
should do so in a wise manner and with beautiful preaching.